Club Nacional

For other clubs named Nacional, see Nacional (disambiguation).

Nacional

Full name	Club Nacional
Nickname(s)	La Academia, Tricolor
Founded	June 5, 1904
Ground	Estadio Defensores del Chaco (Capacity: 36,000)
Chairman	Robert Harrison
Manager	Juan Manuel Battaglia
League	Primera División
2011 Apertura	Winner
Home colours Away colours

Club Nacional is a Paraguayan football (soccer) team, based in the neighbourhood of Barrio Obrero in Asunción, founded in 1904.

History

The club was founded on June 5, 1904 by a group of alumni of the Colegio Nacional de la Capital, one of the oldest public schools in Asunción. The club was originally named Nacional Football Club, taking the name "Nacional" from the school the founders attended. Its first president was Víctor Paredes Gómez and white was selected as the team color because that was the color of the Nacional de la Capital School uniform. For the emblem of the club, the colors of the Paraguayan flag were chosen.

Nacional is one of the traditional teams in the Paraguayan league and they have won a total of six championships so far. Their nickname "La Academia" (the academy) was given to them because of their excellent youth system that produced great players such as Arsenio Erico, who is considered as the best Paraguayan footballer of all time.

In 2009 Nacional won the Clausura 2009 title after 63 years.

Current squad

As of June 14, 2010.^[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Iván Fernández GK Ignacio Don GK Oscar Agüero DF Arturo Aquino DF Marcos Miers DF Herminio Miranda DF Ricardo Mazacotte DF Raúl Piris DF Héctor Benitez DF Denis Caniza MF Marcos Riveros MF Hugo Lusardi MF Diego Figueredo MF Marcos Melgarejo

No. Position Player MF Blas Irala MF Ramón Cáceres MF Carlos Ruiz Peralta MF Orlando Bordón MF Silvio Torales MF Cristian Martínez MF Victor Servin FW Ariel Bogado FW Guillermo Beltrán FW Víctor Aquino FW Sergio Gómez FW Alejandro Salinas FW Javier González

Former players

Players on the list are sorted by era

• Roberto Acuña (El Toro)
• Florencio Amarilla
• Jorge Duilio Benitez
• Cristian Bogado
• Óscar Cardozo (Tacuara)
• Édgar Denis (La Araña)
• Arsenio Erico (El Saltarín Rojo)
• Manuel Fleitas Solich (El Brujo)
• Heriberto Herrera (El Sargento de Hierro)
• Cecilio Martínez
• Modesto Sandoval

Honors

• Primera División (8): 1909, 1911, 1924, 1926, 1942, 1946, 2009 Clausura, 2011 Apertura.
• División Intermedia (3): 1979, 1989, 2003

References

1. ^ BDFA

External links

• Club Nacional de Paraguay Official Site
• Club Nacional de Paraguay Unofficial Site